The present invention relates to methods for generating solar energy, and more particularly, to modular solar arrays having electrically interconnected solar collectors for generating solar energy.
Solar power is becoming an increasingly important component of electricity production. However, due to the diffuse nature of solar energy, it is necessary to concentrate solar energy in order to generate electrical power. Photovoltaic solar concentrators typically are used to generate electrical power by concentrating sunlight onto photovoltaic devices by means of lenses which concentrate solar energy onto electricity-producing solar cells. By concentrating sunlight from a large area onto a relatively small area, high efficiency solar cells, such as gallium arsenide-based (“GaAs”) solar cells may be used in place of less efficient silicon solar cells, thereby producing more energy per unit area.
While improved efficiency can increase the energy production per unit area, the relatively small amount of electricity generated per unit area (compared to fossil fuel or nuclear electricity sources) requires a large number of solar cells distributed over a wide area. Therefore, a number of solar collectors must be assembled and placed in order to generate a meaningful amount of electricity.
One method of providing energy is the use of multiple solar collectors within one housing unit to create a solar collector array, such as that described in U.S. Publication No. 2010/0275972 to Benitez, et al., herein incorporated in its entirety. The housing unit provides thermal and environmental protection for the solar collectors as well as providing an optical element that concentrates solar energy onto a solar cell. Each individual solar cell is electrically connected to an adjoining cell in series, thereby providing a large voltage drop across the entire solar collector array.
A concern with this type of assembly is the high degree of accuracy that is required to align the solar cells within the housing unit. Incident solar energy must be carefully controlled to impact a relatively small area on the solar cell. This results in a high manufacturing cost to accurately align an array of solar cells to one another and to individual optical elements on the housing unit.
A further complication present in prior art devices is the need to electrically couple adjacent solar cells. This electrical connection is required to be located within the thermal and environmental protection of the housing unit due to the very high voltage above ground that may pass through the connection, and to lessen the risk of damage to the electrical connection, which may reduce the amount of power generated. Further, these electrical connections are required to be relatively robust to carry high levels of electrical current generated by the solar collectors.
Finally, while the solar collector may receive a large amount of incident solar radiation, solar cells typically are able to convert only approximately 30% to 60% of such radiation to electricity. The remaining incident radiation is converted to heat that must be dissipated.
It is the object of the present invention to overcome these and other problems identified in the prior art.